Living the other side of the world: December 2010

Ironically enough, I’m finally finding a chance to write just because it’s too busy in here right now. Too many people around. Too many irritations. Granted, that’s almost an everyday occurrence but they’re almost hovering right now. It’s really cramping my style. I can’t watch a movie, I can’t read, I can’t do my “farming” on Farmville. What is that all about? I mean, really… this is work, after all…

I guess I may as well try to get you all caught up on the latest here. It’s been a while. Perhaps I’ll go back to Thanksgiving. For those of you who keep up with me on Facebook, you probably saw my post about what an awesome day it was. Of course I missed my family and friends at home, but I have such wonderful friends here and it was great to be with them. The day started out with a killer workout. Early morning workout, since I’m on a 7am to 7pm shift now. Very early… Work wasn’t too spectacular that day. Pretty mellow as usual. Chilled and watched movies. Dinner was absolutely spectacular. It was delicious. I was hesitantly hopeful that our Thanksgiving meal would be something that wouldn’t disappoint. I was afraid to get my hopes up too far, but there was no need for that. I was blown away at how nice it was. It was delightful, and the company was awesome, and it was actually very beautiful. Ice sculptures and everything. Isn’t that crazy? There was the usual—turkey, smashed potatoes, dressing, etc., plus macaroni & cheese (which always inspires a happy dance from me), shrimp cocktail, and they even had eggnog. It was awesome. After dinner, I headed back to finish my shift and got to relax for the rest of the night. It truly was a perfect day in Afghanistan. The food prep guys really worked hard for us, and they did a spectacular job. Even the table cloths and decorations were beautiful.

And as for the work part of my life here… it is amazing how things can change in just a matter of weeks around here. Make that hours. It seems like every time I turn around, there's a new plan, a new rule, a new cause for panic. It's all rather amusing, actually. Especially since I don't see any reason to get worked up over things that are either only going to last a year for me or will work themselves out in a matter of days. Eh, but I guess I just have a different mindset than many. Understatement, I know.

Anyway, since I last wrote, the FD has been deemed a semi-official FD. That's very good news. It's only semi-official since we're lacking a lot of gear still, but that'll come with time. As of about two months ago or so, we can respond to medical calls, the air station with crash crew, fires on defensive tactic only... all sorts of fun stuff. And we’ve gotten 5 whole calls in that time! Which brings us back to the aforementioned movies, books, fake “farming”, and even cross-stitching that I’ve been doing. Lemme tell you, 12-hour shifts can be long when there’s no calls going on. But I sit here at the desk and wait. We get visitors, which is a huge change from my prior dispatching job. It’s a mix between being a receptionist and a dispatcher here. “Hi. How may I help you today?” “Please sign in and have a seat. The doctor will be right with you.” Okay, so we don’t go quite that far, but it’s close.

Aside from that, not too much is new. It’s getting a lot colder. We were in the upper 20’s last week. Not a big fan of that. There are few things to make using a port-o-potty uncomfortable and un-fun like having to go outside at 1am in 20-something degree weather. Wait, wait… at least we have port-o-potties, right? Sure. I’ll go along with that. I’ve been sick for the past few days, and showering at 6am or 9pm in weather like this isn’t great for a cold, so I’ve given up my breakfast for shower time lately. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back on track soon. I had been getting up a bit before 5 to walk to the gym, get a workout, turn into an icicle on the way back, shower in a refrigerator, and come back to my plywood ice box, but I thought it best to give that a break while I’m sick. I don’t need to put the door mat out for pneumonia and bronchitis. Oh, and for those who have been wondering if you can send me anything—WARM STUFF!!!!! J

Actually, I have had a lot of people asking lately what I can use. I’ve come up with some ideas for those that are interested. Like I said before, we have a little PX here and can get some basic toiletries, but it’s really limited and things sell out quickly. Especially the food. Rumor has it, the Taliban has been wreaking havoc on our food supplies, which would explain the few weeks of no bread and empty shelves at the PX, but I wanted so badly to take a picture of the two jars of salsa that sat on the shelves in there for a while. It was really amusing to me. Even more amusing was the day when I went back and even they were gone. I hope someone got a care package with chips in it as opposed to getting desperate enough to eat salsa all alone… But who knows? Anyway, the list. Fruit rollups, crackers, cookies, easy mac, drink singles (Propel, True Lemon, Kool-aid, etc.), canned oysters, packets of tuna, sausage & cheese gift packs, wipes of all and any sorts (make-up remover, Huggies, Wet Ones, Cottonelle, all are very well appreciated!), paper plates & bowls, paper towels. Oh, and warm stuff. Actually, I just ordered a jacket and a pair of gloves that I hope arrive very soon. I cannot wait to crawl into them! You’d think that flannel-lined pants that I wear every day would help but I’m not entirely sure that they do. It’s amazing how serious the cold is over here! It cuts through everything, to include plywood walls, doors, and floors.

Alright, I should be heading to dinner soon. I need to find a few pics that I can throw on here for my dear readers. I hope you all are doing well. Feel free to drop me a line, especially if I haven’t heard from you in a while. I’m getting much better at writing back. Much.